Gandhinagar: Zakia Jaffri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffri killed during the 2002 communal riots on Saturday expressed satisfaction at the fact that Chief Minister Narendra Modi appeared before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).
"It has taken eight long years but at least he has come. Now that he has played his cards, our lawyers will take it up from here on and we hope some justice will be done," she said.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Shaktisinh Gohil said that Modi was left with no option but to appear before the SIT.
"But it would have been in the fitness of the post that he holds, if he had cut out the drama of showing as if no summons had been issued and he was volunteering to appear on his own. Following his interrogation as an accused, he has no moral right to be in the chair of the chief minister," he added.
Gohil said that it was mainly due to the apex court that the victims of the 2002 riots have some hope of justice but it "will have to monitor things very closely lest interested elements thwart the course of justice as they have been doing".
Former leader of opposition and Congress leader Arjun Modvadia said that though he did not expect Modi possessed the moral courage to step down from office now but it was time that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national leadership made him do so.
"Mr Modi has earned the 'distinction' of being the first chief minister to be questioned on his own role and that of his government in a communal pogrom. The BJP would be well served by asking Modi to quit," he added.
Teesta Setalvad of the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) termed it as a great step forward and said that the next step should be to register a case.
"It is the first time in history that a chief minister is being questioned on grave charges like mass murder. We welcome this," she added.
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